HISTORY: A Biblical Perspective (Week in Review)

Speaker of this past 2nd week of Lectures: Ed Sherman.

Ed Sherman took us on a journey through history to see how God was working and weaving his plans and purposes throughout the ages. Also, we looked at the history of ideas and the dynamic of how ideas shape history and how history shapes ideas. In the beginning he stated 3 suppositions he has made about history, them being;

1. God is working within history as it unfolds to see his purposes come into being, to see his kingdom come, his will be done, there is no difference between sacred and secular history.

(This doesn’t mean that everything is his will, and his doing, but he is working in everything to bring about his plans and purposes.)

2. His major agent for seeing that happens is his people, and the institution of the church.

3. History is also the field in which God cultivates, God brings into fullness, the gifts he has put into nations. As missionaries we have discovered that God has gifted nations, put gifts there, that are intended to bless both them and the rest of the world. History is the field of which those are discovered and developed.

Highlights for Me

Ed Sherman talked about the Greeks, and Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. It was so interesting to learn about the history of Greece, how it had come to where it was when Socrates entered the scene and challenged the Sophists. Recognizing the need for virtue, truth, beauty and justice if Athens was going to survive. And the major takeaway from Plato and Socrates was this.

"If this world is to make sense, where we rationally prove the irrational, there must be something beyond this world."

Another highlight for me was looking at the early christians, 1st century and how courageous they were in the face of unimaginable evil. And this courage led to Romans becoming "Italian", though it did take a long time.

And thirdly, I loved learning about the Celts (mainly focusing on the Irish), and (Saint) Patrick. The effectiveness of his ministry and how the whole land was transformed in his lifetime. Patrick spoke the language of the people, not just Gaelic, but also the analogies, the stories, he knew how to put the gospel to them in a way that they could understand and receive. He gave new meaning to their old stories, and a peace they had never known. He worked with God within their culture, customs and history, to redeem and restore their identity. He didn't seek to throw out their culture and make them conform to another model, or a 'superior' people group. And they demonstrated that they truly understood a lot about the character and nature of God. (2 examples being; women were seen very much as equals with men and were bishops and high ranking leaders alongside the men, and 2ndly, when connection with the Irish church was established again after such a long period of separation, and doctrinal differences were clear. The Irish church submitted to the Roman church for unities sake, and this lead to a unified church that was able to stand against the Muslim attacks that would follow.)

For me, this week has helped to confirm the conviction I've already held, that while this world can be very dark, and lots of terrible evils take place everyday, and have taken place everyday in history, there is a light that cannot be extinguished. There is hope, and God is the master painter and can take terrible and evil situations and set up a platform in the midst of them for His Son, Jesus to shine. The Light of the World. But it takes men and women of courage, and the cost is high. God help me to be a woman of courage.